In those regions of the country where freezing temperatures are encountered in the winter, it is necessary to remove water from the various conduits of swimming pools. If this is not done the water freezes, expands, breaks the conduits, and may even damage pumps and filters. Since all of the conduits are pitched toward the openings in the walls of the pool, the normal practice is to lower the level of water in the pool until it is below these openings, so that the water drains from the openings into the body of the pool. Once the drain openings have been cleared, it is possible to insert plugs into the openings and then refill the pool. Two problems are encountered in carrying out this procedure. First of all, it is a time-consuming procedure and it wastes a considerable amount of water, particularly in the case of a large pool. Secondly, and more importantly, while the procedure is being carried out, the pool wall is unsupported and it is possible for the pool to be damaged during this period of non-support. Hydraulic ground pressure can act on these unsupported portions of the pool during the draining procedure and can cause the pool walls to buckle or crack. These and other difficulties experienced with the prior art procedures have been obviated in a novel manner by the present invention.
It is, therefore, an outstanding object of the invention to provide an apparatus for use with a swimming pool to remove water from pool passages without removing large amounts of water from the pool proper.
Another object of this invention is the provision of an apparatus for permitting the drainage of water from swimming pool conduits without danger of buckling or cracking of the pool walls due to lack of support.
A further object of the present invention is the provision of an apparatus for a pool-draining procedure, which apparatus is simple in construction, which is inexpensive to manufacture, and which is capable of a long life of useful service without the need for maintenance.
It is another object of the instant invention to provide an apparatus for carrying out a method of draining pool passages without a time-consuming and wasteful removal of a large portion of the pool contents.
A still further object of the invention is the provision of an apparatus including a box-like barrier for isolating swimming pool drains from the main body of water in the pool.
With these and other objects in view, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art, the invention resides in the combination of parts set forth in the specification and covered by the claims appended hereto.